Longer than a Scottish Summer
by Cheesecake-and-Pengins
Summary: A routine interview takes a turn for the worst for our favourite detectives as they struggle to deal with an unseen outcome. An entry for the August prompts.
1. Chapter 1

**Longer than a Scottish Summer**

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><p>They watched as his face lit up with a grin, the first that had graced his features since it happened. He seemed content, giggling gleefully as he ran in and out with the tide, letting the waves chase him back onto the beach. He was completely oblivious to the weather which had taken another turn for the worst in the last hour, the rain lashing down with enough force to drench you in seconds. They were supposed to be in the middle of a heatwave, only last night the weather had declared that they were in for another scorcher, all bright sun and tropical heat if a little cloudy, they had got the clouds right at least. It had started out OK, just the way it had been predicted, but then, just as they were in the car on their way down here the clouds had became thicker overhead and a light, continuous drizzle had started up. They had almost decided to turn back then, but his face had been hopeful and he was chatting with them in a way he hadn't before, changing their minds.<p>

No matter his happiness at that moment, they would have to leave soon before he caught a cold. They were just reluctant to break the news to him, preferring instead to see him acting like a child his age, carefree and innocent, a state he unfortunately hadn't been in for the last few days. Regrettably though, ice-cream and sandcastles made on a deserted, rainy beach wasn't going to erase what had already happened. They could only hope it would overshadow some of his sadness from the day before.

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><p>It was a day Robbie was sure he would never forget. It had started out normal enough; another boring morning of paperwork and arguments fuelled by the last vestiges of that weekends hangovers, not to mention irritation as everyone tried to deal with the recent heatwave coupled with a broken air conditioner. But then they had been sent to interview an informant of his over information that could potentially lead to the demise of a local cardboard gangster, one that was a particular thorn in Burke's side. The house they had visited was average enough from the outside, blending in with the rest in the scheme. It was slightly run down but that too only added to it's normality here where most of the buildings were council owned. The first sign of anything untoward going on presented itself as they got to the front door and to their surprise found it lying open. It hadn't been obvious, not something you could have seen from the street, it wasn't until you were right in front of it that you noticed that the latch was broken, preventing the door from shutting fully.<p>

From then on, everything had seemed to move in slow motion. Jackie had called for back-up as he made his way through the lower levels of the house, clearing the area. Finding nothing but evidence of a struggle, he had then began the long trek up the stairs, his heart heavy with trepidation. He could hear nothing but the rapid beating of his own heart as he reached the top landing and headed through the nearest door. Pausing at the threshold he knew somewhere deep inside of him what he would find before he even entered. It still came as a shock though. No-one in their right mind could see that amount of carnage and not feel something.

The first thing he had noticed was the blood; it was everywhere. On the walls, over the furniture, even on the ceiling. The second thing he registered was the stench, it almost knocked him backwards causing the fleeting thought of how he hadn't noticed it before to cross his mind before it was pushed aside by the horror of seeing their broken bodies. It was so unnatural, their limbs lying at angles he never thought possible and their faces beaten to such an extent that it was hard to discern who was who, only their clothing gave him a clue. He took an involuntary step backwards, away from the atrocity, his back colliding with the door frame with a force that took his breath away. The collision had at least one advantage though, it brought his mind away from the scene in front of him, bringing enough clarity for him to realise that the room they were in was not the couple's own, but their young son's.

The fact was made evident by the colourfully decorated walls, covered in posters representing various sport stars and cartoon characters. Not to mention the abundance of children's toys that littered the room, most of them now made sinister by a fine splattering of blood that shone in the little light entering through the window. It took him a moment to pinpoint the significance of his new discovery, but once he did it was like an electric shock through his body. It was relatively early in the morning, in the middle of the summer holidays; so where was the boy? Panicking now more than ever, he turned tail and prepared to tear the rest of the upper storey of the house apart in order to find him. He hadn't gotten very far before he ran into Jackie, almost knocking both of them to the floor.

"Whoa, Robbie! Watch out," Any reprimand on the tip of her tongue was lost the moment she saw the look on his face. "what's wrong?"

"They're both dead, beaten severely. But the boy's not there, we've got to find David!." His speech was rapid, almost fragmented but he could tell she understood by the look of shock that passed over her face.

"He's not up here Robbie I've already checked." He heard what she said but didn't believe it. The boy had to be up here somewhere. Pushing by his partner, he rushed down the corridor, ignoring her protests as he went. His movements were frantic, uncoordinated. He was aiming to cover all the ground he could at the one time, an unlikely task but one he was determined to accomplish. His breathing became more erratic as he came to the last room, Jackie not very far behind him but coming up fast. He barely had time to register the fact that they were in the victims bedroom when Jackie grabbed his arm, holding him back.

"Robbie! Calm down."

"I can't Jacks, we have to find him," his voice was a higher pitch than normal showing his alarm. "what if he's still alive?"

"Then all your banging about is just going to scare him even more. You have to calm down." He seemed to deflate at her words, all the bluster disintegrating as he recognised the truth behind them.

"So, what's your plan then?" Her arm was still holding him in place, preventing him from moving.

"We look for him, just not in the way you were doing it. OK?" He nodded, defeated.

"OK." At his agreement, she slowly let her grip on him go, glaring at him a little to make sure her point stuck. She was about to speak once more, possibly to give out some more orders or so Robbie thought, when a snuffling noise from the cupboard behind them drew their attention. Acting quickly, Robbie brought a finger to his lips, silently asking for quiet before motioning for Jackie to take up a position on the other side of the cupboard. Pausing long enough for the both of them to get to a point where they would be able to move quickly, he signalled to Jackie once more, letting her know that he was ready to go. On a count of three signified by Robbie holding up one finger after another, they pounced; Jackie opening the door for Robbie to deal with whoever was inside, then moving so that she was in a location whereby she could provide back-up.

When the door opened it revealed a more comforting and shocking picture than he was expecting. Crouched in the furthest corner of the cupboard and folded into himself as much as possible was the object of their search. He was splotched in blood and had heavily red rimmed eyes, clearly indicating that he had been crying. The snuffling noise they had heard had become louder as they found the source, revealing itself to be whimpers coming from the unfortunate boy. Before he could act, Jackie had moved in front of the child, kneeling down so that she was at eye level with him and would appear less frightening. He could only watch as his partner painstakingly chipped away at the boy's defences until he felt safe enough to come away from his corner towards her. Some of the tightness in his body melted away as he saw him reach out and cling to Jackie, his face less blank than it had been when they first saw him.

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><p>Once they had managed to get him checked out by a doctor – a feat made difficult by the boy's overall reluctance to be parted from Jackie - they were immediately set upon by Burke. He had impressed upon the importance of getting any and all information out of the boy about the attacker, convinced that it was a hired hand of the man they were looking for. They had to tried to explain that he was traumatised, that he needed severe and immediate counselling to recuperate, but Burke had been uncharacteristically uncompromising in regards to the matter, obviously under pressure for results from the higher-ups. He had charged them with the task of getting through to him, a task that he had known would be inescapable once he noticed how attached David had become to Jackie – a fact emphasised by his screaming every time the doctors or the police had tried to separate the two.<p>

In the end, they had decided to take him to the beach in the hopes that he would open up more if he felt safe and relaxed. He had come up with the idea himself after recalling seeing a picture of David at a beach with his parents in his room. It had been one of the only objects not touched by the bloodbath causing it to catch his attention. On the drive down they had told him that it was a kind of vacation from work and Maryhill in general, that they needed him with them as an excuse to build sandcastles and eat ice-cream. The conversation had been kept light and vague, totally unrelated to recent events, at some point he had started to talk back to them. One word answers mostly, but it was a vast improvement to his silence.

By the time they arrived the weather had completely taken a turn for the worst, but they decided to go for the full experience starting with ice-cream from the small café situated close to the the actual beach. It wasn't long after he had expressed an interest in playing in the waves, and they had agreed to let him despite the weather, pleased that he was showing an interest in anything.

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><p>"You know I've been thinking," her voice broke the silence that had pervaded since they had started watching David enjoy himself, a silence neither of them had been quite aware of until she had spoken. "it's a good thing the weather changed when it did."<p>

"Why's that?" His voice was laced with mirth, a sign that he knew she was clearly about to try and lighten the mood.

"Any more exposure to the sun and I would've started to burn. Lobster isn't that good a look on most people." She had said it with such a straight face that he had to fight with himself to not burst out laughing. Any comments he thought about making though were unfortunately cut short by the ringing of her mobile. Excusing herself, she walked away a foot or two to gain a little privacy, although not that much as Robbie could still make out what was happening. The little he heard only served to confuse him more however, snippets of arguments about an affair and whether or not to report it. Despite the circumstances, he couldn't stop his mind from going straight to wondering if his partner was a having an affair. Not that he would ever ask her, he liked his face unbroken. But he was a trained detective, and so had ways to find out.

He barely gave her a chance to put by her phone before quizzing her about the call. "So, what was that all about?" Unfortunately his question didn't get the desired effect. She was frowning, the wrinkles across her forehead that he always thought were kind of cute in full evidence.

"That was Stuart. Apparently they found out that the mother was having an affair and he doesn't know whether or not to include it in the report. He's leaving it up to us since it's our case."

"So what's the problem?" He honestly couldn't see what was wrong. If it had nothing to do with the actual case then what was the harm in keeping it quiet, for David's sake if nothing else.

"It's an official report Robbie we have to include everything!" Her voice had risen a little as she spoke, giving way to her conviction.

Robbie was altogether baffled. He knew that she always stuck to the rules as much as she could, but this was different; the happiness of a small boy was possibly at stake. "Does it have anything to do with the murders?"

"No, but -"

"Then leave it Jacks. Do you really want to take the chance of it getting back to him?" He took some comfort from the fact that she seemed to be more willing to listen to him now, and stepped closer towards her to get his point across more forcefully. "It's truth or happiness Jacks, never both."

She huffed lightly in response, the small puff of she released clearly visible in the cold air. "I suppose your right, for once. He has been through enough as it is."

"I'm glad you agree with me." He teased, his infamous grin out in full.

"Well it had to happen eventually. Infinite monkey's and all that," He only snorted in reply, pleased that she was cheered up once more. "we'll just have to hope that David's happiness lasts longer than a Scottish summer." She commented, looking from David to the sky in quiet contemplation. Thankfully, he was saved from responding as David chose that moment to cease his games and come running towards them, his face becoming more sombre the closer he got. Feeling apprehensive at his sudden change in demeanour, Robbie turned his full attention to the young boy, deeply aware of how unprepared he was for what he might say.

He felt Jackie step closer towards him and took encouragement from it, knowing that she would take over the responsibility of talking to him, a fact he was overly glad of. He watched, rather proudly, as she once more bent down to his level, smiling in encouragement at the sombre faced boy who looked up at them in complete confidence.

"I think, I think I'm ready to tell you what happened now."

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><p><strong>AN: But why's all the fluff gone? No idea where this one came from, it just sorta happened despite all the possible scenarios running through my head from the 'ice' prompt.**

**What's the verdict?**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I decided to make this into a short story after realising I couldn't just leave it as I did. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and read the first chap :), you guys are epic. **

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><p>His announcement was so unexpected that it took Jackie a moment to make sense of it before she could even think to respond, and even then she was at a loss at what to say. Chancing a glance at Robbie she could only discern from his troubled expression that he was as unsure as she was on how to handle the situation. It was funny really, the whole reason they were there was to find out what the young boy knew and now when it came down to it, when he was willing to tell them without being coerced, they were at a loss at how to react. Smiling depreciatingly, she decided that she would have to take control of the situation if they were to get through it with minimal trauma to the boy.<p>

"OK. OK, that's good," she stated shakily. Her nerves were causing her voice to shake a little and she had to clear her throat before continuing. "Are you sure you're ready?" She asked, wincing as she said it. She knew that she had just made a mistake; not only had she contradicted herself by saying he was right before asking him if he was sure, but it was against their basic orders to prevent him from telling what he had seen.

It was a relief to her when he nodded in agreement as she couldn't imagine doing anything to force the story out of him. "Maybe we should wait until we get back, then we could do it at the station."

Her suggestion had been for his benefit, made to lessen the stress of his re-telling by taking him somewhere that would signify safety - the obvious choice being a police station. After all, weren't all children taught to seek out police when they were in trouble? However it only served to make nervous; his face visibly falling at the thought as he struggled to coherently voice his objection. He was stuttering, his words jumbling together in his panic and she had to lay her hands on his shoulder and shake him a little to break him from his near hysteria.

"All right. It's all right, you don't have to go to the station," she soothed, rubbing her hands up and down his arms in what she hoped was a comforting manner. "we can talk here. Well not here, we would probably be better going to the car first in case you get a cold or worse If you already haven't that is. I don't know why we thought this was -"

"Jacks!" Robbie interrupted, his voice easily cutting through her monologue, "you're rambling," he added with a smirk as she looked up at him curiously.

Blushing, Jackie quickly turned her attention back to David, unable to meet Robbie's amused gaze any longer. "Would you be all right with talking in the car?"

She asked her question knowing that she was once more giving him an opportunity to say no, but she didn't have it in her to feel she was doing anything wrong by her actions.

"Can't we get some chips first like you promised?"

His question caught her by surprise. She had almost forgotten about their promise to treat him to a chippy if he restrained from going into the water like he wanted. Although looking at him now Jackie wasn't sure she'd be able to tell the difference if he had jumped in. Smiling wryly at her thoughts and the guardedly hopeful expression on David's face she quickly agreed, her only amendment that they eat them in the car instead of in a café.

She knew it would rile Robbie up – it was why she had said it – and she wasn't disappointed. He shot her a look of pure disbelief before starting a rant on how much it would cost to clean the interior afterwards, how long it would take for the smell of grease to to go away. She rolled her eyes at his ranting, winking at David as she took his hand and they began walking away from Robbie and the beach and towards the chip shop they had passed earlier. The young boy, chuckled a bit at their behaviour when Robbie spluttered mid-sentence on realising that his audience had left him and had to jog a little to catch up to them, still muttering under his breath.

"You'd think I'd asked him to total it the way he's going on," Jackie commented. It was clear her statement was directed at David but she had pitched her voice so that Robbie would be able to hear her over his ramblings.

"No Jacks, if I wanted that I would've just asked you to drive." The drawled response made her pause mid-stride, a snort of derision escaping her mouth before she had a chance to stop it.

"We don't need to eat in the car, " David cut in anxiously, obviously picking up on the tension between them, "we can skip the chips."

The fear on his face caught Jackie's breath and prevented the retort that had been hot on her lips. Glaring at Robbie she was about to admonish him when he waved his hand at her, signalling for her to be quiet. Frowning at him, she watched while he beckoned to David before bending down in front of him when he came. He then proceeded to have what to Jackie looked like a deep conversation. She couldn't hear what they were saying but both their expressions were serious; David's almost comically so as he mirrored the detective's. As she was obviously not needed by the two boys she rolled her eyes in agitation before stalking off in the direction of the chip shop.

She slowed her pace a little as she neared the street that held the few shops that bordered the beach. They were mostly tourist orientated; small units brightly coloured who's main stock seemed to be fridge magnets, but there were a few she classed as normal fare like the hairdressers and the small clothing boutique on the corner, the shops that hinted at what lurked a few yards behind the façade.

Thankfully the rain had died down so it was not unpleasant for her to wait for them to catch up and she passed the time by observing others who had braved the weather. She was watching a man and a young boy playing fetch with their dog, completely unaware of her surroundings as she lost herself in the enjoyment of the two, when she felt a tugging on her elbow. Looking down she saw David gesturing for her to follow him to where Robbie was already in the chip shop.

It turned out there had been no need for Robbie to worry as they had been so famished they had polished off the chips before ever reaching the car. Normally she would have used a situation like this to gloat but watching him muck around with David made her pause before the thought had even fully formed in her mind. As they bundled David into the back of the car, making sure he was wrapped in a blanket to ward off the chill, she caught what she thought was a look of longing on his face that almost melted her heart. It was fleeting however, gone before she had the chance to make sure of what she saw.

Thankfully, neither David nor Robbie noticed her acting strangely and she was able to get into the car beside Robbie without any of them saying anything. The mood was jovial as Robbie started up the car and pulled out of the parking lot and she was loathe to do anything to change it even though she had to. She glanced into the rear-view mirror as they started down the main road and watched David as he stared out of the car window, seemingly intent on the passing scenery. If she didn't know any better she would have said that he had already forgotten declaring to tell them what happened as he had not mentioned it since then, but then again neither had they.

They had both went out their way to not bring it up, reluctant to spoil his day until they absolutely had to, but now they had to. There was no way it would end well if they turned up at Maryhill without the answers they were looking for, and not just for them. Gasping a little as his eyes turned to suddenly meet hers in the mirror she quickly averted her gaze, her face flushing guiltily. It had hit her as she was watching him, the thought coming with such clarity that she was surprised she hadn't realised her intentions sooner; she he had no plans of pressuring the boy into telling them anything, even if it meant they went back with nothing.

She could only hope that Robbie felt the same way, and from the way he had been acting she was sure he did. So she kept quiet, speaking only when one of the two of them spoke to her first and even then she was distracted as her mind wandered, running through all the possible scenarios that awaited them when they returned. At best they would get a precaution, maybe even a suspension, at worst...well she didn't even want to think about it. After spending the best part of her life within the police force she couldn't imagine her life outside of it.

The choice was soon taken out of her hands however when after spacing out for a spell longer than she had before, she came back to the conversation in time to hear David asking what would happen to him after he told them what had happened. She didn't know what Robbie had said that could have precipitated such a question, but even he seemed surprised by the question thrown at him if his stunned silence was anything to go by.

"I'm not really sure..." Robbie started before trailing off, obviously unsure of how to respond. His worried eyes sought Jackie's and she quickly relented, taking up where he had let off.

"What Robbie means is that we might not know what will happen to you just yet but no matter what, we'll make sure you're OK."

Her voice sounded sickly sweet even to her own ears as she forced some cheerfulness into her words, and she cringed to think of what David heard in her speech when she noticed him frowning.

"No matter what," he repeated slowing, nodding as if the phrase held some significance for him that they couldn't fathom before sighing tiredly. "They had masks on; the bad men, and they laughed a lot when they were breaking stuff, I could hear them."

Both detectives where stunned into silence at his admission; they hadn't expected him to be so calm about the re-telling, or so abrupt. Their silence was all it took for him to continue however and once he started they were loathe to interrupt him.

"We were supposed to be going to the pictures but then someone phoned dad. He was sad afterwards and he made me go hide. He said it was a game but mummy started crying."

He was frowning then, the only sign that he was recalling something traumatic but he soon carried on, his voice echoing in the otherwise silent car as Robbie pulled over into a deserted car park that bordered an out of business petrol station. Both he and Jackie turned in their seats so they were facing the young boy, giving him their full attention.

"I hid in mum and dads room 'cause their cupboard has more room in it, mine is too messy from all my toys, mummy kept asking me to tidy it up but I didn't want to, I like it when it's messy. It was dark in the cupboard and I couldn't see anything but I could hear them. The door went and dad answered it, he started arguing with the bad men and they were all shouting really loud and saying bad words. I couldn't hear everything they were saying but I did hear one of them shout that 'he'd pay for what he'd done' but I don't know what they were talking about."

He paused again to take a breath, his gaze switching from the back of the headrest in front of him to the window, his large brown eyes darting to take in everything around them. "I heard mummy crying again; only this time it was louder and the men were shouting at her to stop and dad was shouting back that they weren't to touch her. It was a bit quieter after that, they were still talking but I couldn't hear them and then the came up the stairs and the banging started. I was thinking about going to see mum and ask if she was OK because she kept crying but I was too scared, especially when she started screaming. I've never saw mummy scared before. Then everything was quiet and all I could hear was footsteps and the men laughing before they slammed the door. I stayed in the cupboard like dad told me too, waiting for him to come and get me but you came instead. I thought you were the bad men."

"David, you said there were wearing masks. How did you know that?" Jackie prompted after another silence descended over them.

"I heard one of them shouting to the other to fix his mask because it was slipping off. That was before the screaming started," he stated calmly even as tears slid down his face. He seemed to realise at the same time they did that he was crying because he quickly lifted an arm and wiped at his face with his jumper's sleeve. "Do you think I should have come out and tried to phone the police? I didn't have to go far, there's a phone in mum and dad's room."

"No son, you did the right thing," Robbie claimed, his face twisted as if in pain as he looked at the distraught young boy. He had started off chillingly calm but as he got closer to the end he had, unsurprisingly, become more and more agitated.

"Are you sure?" He questioned anxiously.

"Didn't your dad tell you to stay hidden?" Robbie questioned, waiting until the boy gave an uncertain nod before continuing. "Then you did the right thing." He still looked unsure however and it took an encouraging smile from Jackie to get him to settle.

"That's good," he muttered, "how long will it take to get back?"

"About an hour and a half," Jackie responded quickly, "why?"

"Do you think I could go for a quick sleep on the way back? I'm really tired." His question once more caught them by surprise and Jackie began to wonder if they would ever get used to anything the boy said or did.

"Sure son, we'll wake you up when we get there," Robbie promised, his eyes flicking from the road in front of him to the young boy and then back again.

"Keep your eyes on the road," Jackie admonished distractedly, more out of habit than anything else. She was watching David anxiously in the rear view mirror, her features soft with worry as she saw him lean his head against the window and close his eyes; he was asleep within minutes.

"So what are we going to do?" Robbie asked softly.

"I don't know," Jackie sighed, her eyes fixed once more on the passing scenery, "I really don't know Robbie."


End file.
